The Real Battle Begins
by Ilas
Summary: Emily and Naomi have always managed to overcome all together, so now they are reunited, the real battle against fate could begin because love is their strength. Directly following the end of Skins Fire.
1. The Real Battle

**Author's note: There is always hope, and I can't personally resolve myself to think everything is finished after the end of Skins Fire, so I wrote this to have a better ending, because I feels like it was not closure at all... Also, English is not my native langage (I'm French), so there are probably mistakes I haven't seen.**  
**Anyway, I hope you'd like reading it.**

**Disclaimers: Nothing to me, and if it wasn't the case, I would certainly not write Skins Fire like that.**

* * *

Emily felt like she was running against the time. The past days had been nothing but a perpetual race against minutes elapsing, against upcoming death and eyes fulled of pity because her twenty-one girlfriend was dying on an hospital bed for three months. She had heard the whispers from the nurses, looking at her compassionately, asking her how she was feeling and Emily was absolutely unable to answer something because she simply didn't know what to say. She was overwhelmed by a whirwind of contradictory feelings: fear, anger, despair and a tiny bit of hope, a stupid feeling that Naomi, with her help, her love, her presence could find the strength to fight that cancer which was slowly eating her up. She knew it was pointless, Effy had insisted when she had finally decided to call her and tell the awful truth it was terminal, there was no time but nevertheless, Emily continued to have that part of her heart saying it was not over, they could overcome illness like other terrible things that happened to them the previous years.

When the photographer entered the room the first time, she had sobbed in Naomi's arms during hours, and it was her girlfriend who had conforted her, while she was the one suffering hell from her cancer. Naomi had repeated a million times she was sorry for hurting her, for not telling her the truth because she didn't want Emily to drop everything she had built in New York for her, she wanted the best for her, and the best was not waiting in an hospital bedroom with nothing to do apart crying. Emily had eventually answered that her work didn't mattered for her, Naomi was important, she was her everything, and she would have prefered crying in a room with her than being unable to do it. Naomi had looked at her and simply asked: "Are you sure?" and Emily had just nodded before kissing her girl. They didn't need big words, they were just Emily and Naomi, and it was all that mattered.

The day after, Emily called Gina, and it was witout any possible doubt the worst thing she had to do in all her life. Explaining to a cheerful Gina who was in Ireland with her long-term boyfriend her only daughter was diagnosed with terminal cancer, hearing the heavy and endless silence after and the terribly soft sobs through the phone was like being punched in the chest with all the strengh of a boxing champion. Gina had said nothing, but less than twelve hours later she was here, with a serenity Emily was far from to feel but it was Gina Campbell, who had decided as always to be optimistic and tried to decorate the room for Christmas and the New Year, despite the protests of Naomi, who stated:

"It's not because I have a fucking cancer that I can't have a word on the decoration of my own bedroom, for Christ's sake!".

Gina had just said : "But love, it's important to have a good spirit in a room, it helps, plus I followed the recommendation of an Chinese friend on the Feng Sui energy and it could really be benefic for you, it's a natural way to harmonize the different flows and..."

Naomi had just rolled her eyes at that speech, and for a second, Emily had completely forgotten where she was. In fact, it was as if she was still the previous year, hearing happily her girlfriend and her mother arguing about Gina odd ideas and Naomi too rational mind while she was decorating their Christmas tree and waiting to open their gifts. But the voice of a nurse annoucing Naomi's daily check-up brutally brought Emily in the present, where there was no Christmas tree or gifts, just analyzes and medications.

If she was honnest, Gina was a breath of fresh air. Her eternal smile and cheerfulness, even in the worst situations, was a beacon in the storm, a constant reminder she was not alone, it was not finished and Naomi herself was happier with the comforting presence of her mother. Gina was their rock, and even the nurses seemed to admire her courage and her strength to face the most horrible thing for a mother. Sadness and resignation had never been in her vocabulary and she constantly told Emily she had to be strong for Naomi to show her all was not lost, there was some things worth figthing for, like her family and the love of her life, all the amazing things she could have forgotten briefly alone in this room, with just a distraugh Effy for company.

After Gina, Emily had called her boss to clarify her situation, because when she tought about it, a "I need to go, I... Naomi is... Everything is so fucked up! No, don't fucking try to stop me or I swear to God I will kill you right now!" was clearly not a complete explanation. Henry had been very comprehensive, more she had expected and told her to stay all the time she needed, that love was far more important than work and he understood, her wife was diagnosed with cancer too, three years ago. Emily had thanked him and promised to keep abreast of developments. When she told Naomi her work was not longer a concern, she saw relief written on her girfriend face: Naomi didn't want to destroy her future, even if Emily had repeated that Naomi was her future. In fact, Emily loved to see the guilt leaving her girlfriend more than the reassurance of keeping her job. Without any other exterior worries, Naomi could focused on fighting for them, for a little bit time together.

The last person she had called was Katie. Her twin sister was now a fashion designer who began to have a little reputation and their link was still strong. She had accepted her relationship with Naomi and the two girls had become good friends with the same love than before for witty remarks and endless arguments about the supremacy of floral or leopard print. When Emily decided to go to New York for her internship, Katie was the first one to know and to tell her Naomi would support her because she was "heal over heels in love with you Em, she would jump from the third floor if you asked her to, so don't be a pussy, go tell her and have the shag of your life for being a successful photographer!" And in view of the evening that followed, Emily wondered if Katie was not psychic, Effy influence probably.

At the announcement, Katie remained silent during long minutes. Then, she uttered : "What are you gonna do?"

"I 'm going to stay with her, what do you want for me to do?"

"I don't know it's just... Fuck I don't know what to say. Is it... Is there something to try ?"

"Doctors told her it was terminal."

"Shit!" She paused for a second and continued: "Do you want me to tell the parents?"

Emily thought about it for a moment and finally replied: "Just tell them she is sick. I don't want them here."

"Okay. Be brave Em, she needs you." said finally Katie, echoing Effy last words.

Emily replied softly: "I know." and went into the room she had not left for days, sat down the chair near Naomi' bed and stroked gently the hair of her asleep girlfriend. Naomi seemed peaceful, her chest rising and falling to the rhythm of her breathing. Even though she was pale and weak, to Emily, she would always be the most beautiful girl in the world and a fucking cancer could never change that. The brunette climbed carefully and curled up against her lover and whispered a soft "I love you." before falling asleep, lulled by Naomi's snores.

And here she was, the day after, out for a coffee. Suddenly she heard a too familiar voice yelling "Ems!" in the empty corridor and just after that, she felt two arms tightening her strongly. Her twin was here and was wrapping her in a big Fitch hug. Stunned, Emily managed to utter: "What are you doing here, Katie? I mean, you have your office and your new collection is about to come out."

She was cut by her sister who replied :

"Come on Em, my almost sister-in-law is a fucking hospital and you thought I would stay in Bristol without doing anything? No fucking way! Plus Naomi needs someone to kick her ass and yell at her to let a stupid mass of sick cells nearly tear you guys apart."

And with that, simply, Katie entered the room, followed quickly by Emily. When Naomi saw Katie, she almost spit out the drink of water she tried to swallow. With her usual smirk, the older twin said:

"Charming as usual, Campbell, it's good to see you too."

"But how do you know ? And... ?" finally replied an astonished Naomi, facing a smiling Gina.

"Emily told me and I'm here 'cause you need family and, it's hard for me to believe it even after all this years, but you are part of my family, so I'm going to stay a little."

The second later, Katie was almost suffocated by a terribly emotive Gina, who kept repeating it was wonderful of her to be here with them, and the look of the twin was funny enough to cause the first laugh Naomi for weeks, well more a cough but still. At the sound, everybody turned to her and a visibly surprised Naomi asked:

"What?"

With tears in her eyes, Emily replied:

"Nothing" before kissing softly her girlfriend. Maybe Naomi was dying, but at least they were able to make her smile and laugh, feel her loved, and it was something too beautiful to be ignored.

The next days, they decided, mostly because Gina kept ranting about it, to organize a late Christmas. Katie managed to bring a bottle of wine in the room by picking up a rather good-looking doctor. When Naomi asked her mother to look in the drawer of her dresser and Gina came out a carefully wrapped package, Emily almost missed stop breathing, while her girlfriend explained she had asked a month ago Effy to buy this little thing for Em, because she couldn't afford something better and she was stucked in her bed. In the verge of tears, Emily tore the paper to discover a t-shirt with written in a brilliant red "Forever my lobster". A sheepish looking Naomi kept rambling on how it was a shitty gift only to be silenced by a pair of lips who kissed her because to Emily, it was the best Christmas present ever, it was their private jock since the summer they got together and Naomi really amazed her. Even with a cancer, she still was the most wonderful girlfriend she could ever dream of.

Finally, they broke away, only to realize Katie and Gina had left them alone. Emily held her own gift to Naomi and opened it for her: it was a portfolio with all the photos of their good time since the infamous Love Ball. Months ago, she began to ask people photos for it and their friends, families and even their former teacher Doug had helped her with this, bringing memories of their happy and less happy times, of them walking hand in hand out of the ball, of them partying, of them apart, of them reunited, of them making silly moves on the background of their Uni's pictures and funny faces. It was their story, and fate had a really bad sense of humour to make sound this gift as a goodbye one. Emily looked to Naomi to see silent tears running across her face while she was turning pages with a trembling hand. They locked eyes and a simultaneous "I love you" echoed in the room.

* * *

Outside, Katie and Gina was waiting patiently, giving the two girls some privacy. After two minutes of silence, the younger woman eventually spoke:

"Do you think there is any hope?"

It was killing her to see her sister and Naomi, biterness seizing her with a strengh she had difficulties to countain. Evreything they had built during years was about to go up to smoke and she couldn't take it, she needed somebody to tell her things would be ok. She had tought she would be Emily's bridesmaid, the "Auntie Katie" of the children she would have with Naomi and without warning, all these dreams were vanishing.

"I want to believe it. I need to Katie. I know what doctors said but until my daughter stop breathing, I will continue to hope. It's probably stupid, yes and I don't care." replied Gina after a while.

"It's not stupid." Katie reassured her, placing a comforting hand on the shoulder of Gina.

"Yeah. Now, the real battle could begins. Regardless of the outcome, they will not be alone to face it."


	2. Knowing you could hope

**Author's note: Thank you for all the support, it's really cool to know some people like the beginning of the story. Before starting with all the medical aspect, I wanted to focus more on Emily, because I think she needs to fully understand she have reasons to hope for a better future. **

**I personnaly hope you will enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"No way, Mum!"

"But, sweetheart, I heard it is a natural medicine with very good results and..."

"I said, no way! I won't let anyone planting needles in my face!"

"Campbell, just do it, it's something to help you, not murder you!"

"I'm not quite sure of that." mumbled a tired Naomi.

While an enthusiastic Gina and a reluctant Katie kept trying to convince Naomi of the acupuncture's benefits, Emily looked at the nurses outside the corridor. One of them, the handsome blond guy Katie's had tried to charm one day she was boring, had apparently difficulties to contain his laugh whereas the others had a mix of relief and sadness on their faces. They were probably happy to see the blonde finally surrounded by his family, and sad to know this little bubble would not last a long time. Emily sighed, stood up and went to the bed. She kissed the forehead of her girfriend and said:

"I go out five minutes, I need to stretch my legs a bit."

"You let me alone with those two?" Naomi replied, a shadow of light worry on her face as if she expected to be attacked by those dreaded needles when Emily had her back turned.

"I'm sure you could resist them, babe." chuckled Emily, thinking it was definitely the best idea she had ever had to call Gina and Katie. Since they were here, with Gina's odd hippy suggestions and Katie's support, Naomi seemed more like her old self, more alive. She was regaining some colors and was generally less focused on her illness. Maybe it was nothing, but to Emily, it meant everything because being able to distract Naomi from all that crap was the best thing to do. She wished being in this familiar atmosphere could alleviate her pain, even if it was only for a bit. With a smile, she left the room, greeted the nurses and went down the stairs.

Once outside, the cold air from the end of December hit her hard. In the streets, people were cursing, tooting in their cars, fighting, unaware that near them, in that grey building, others people tried to survive. Emily wanted to tell them to cherish the one's they loved instead of moaning after them, become aware of the value of things, enjoy as they could. She shivered, wearing no jacket, just her old sweater.

" Do you want a cigarette?" a voice next to her said gently.

She turned to face a dark-haired man in his forties who was smiling at her. He was dressed in faded jeans and an old blue polo and didn't seemed to belong to the staff of the hospital. He might be a visitor for someone hospitalized. Emily realized that the man was still waiting for his reply so she answered after hesitating:

"Yes, thank you."

"No problem." replied the man, handing her his pack. Without a word, the photographer took one, let him light it and raised it to her lips. Usually, she didn't smoke, hell she had yelled at Naomi during years for being unable to quit, but now, she didn't care, she needed something to prevent her from thinking for some minutes. They stayed like that, in silent, peaceful for a long time before the man broke it:

"So, if it is not intrusive, you're are here because...?"

"My girfriend is here." Emily replied, taking a new puff.

"Oh. Well I'm really sorry for you, I hope it is not too bad." The man seemed genuinely concerned, and for a brief moment, the brunette felt a little better, warming by the conversation but immediately, the reality hit her in the face.

"It is. Bad I mean. I'm here to take care of her until... until..." She didn't finish, unable to continue, her voice broken. She had kept a strong face after her initial breakdown, trying to be as optimistic as Gina, but she was at the moment overwhelmed by all the feelings she desperately tried to bury in herself the past week. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and heard the man spoke:

"My husband had a liver cancer two years ago. Today, he is in remission, but when the doctors began to talk about palliative care and all that things, I was absolutely lost. Then, he finally responded to the treatment after months. Don't lose hope, I mean reality is crual and it is stupid to live in a false made-up dream where all is beautiful, but you are allowed to think things would get better, even if the situation seems awful."

A tear rolled down Emily's cheek, then a second, then a third and finally a river of tears. Yet, it were not tears of sadness, not really, it were more tears of relief, of hearing somebody finally saying the good words, the words she had wanted so badly to be told. Suddenly, all the hope she had was verbalized, and it was an incredible feeling of being understood, even if it was by a perfect stranger. The man was waiting patiently by her side she recovered from her little moment of emotion, his hand still on her shoulder, as he wanted to transmit some energy to the girl he was talking to. Emily dried his tears with his sleeve and asked, her voice strong and firm:

"If I can ask you something...?"

"You can. And please call me Jeff. All the Mister thing makes me old."

"Well Jeff, I just wanted to know if... when your husband was sick... Have you ever had moment of doubt or, I don't know, jut moments when you were still hoping but a little voice said..."

"Don't believe something which would never happened?" replied the man with his warm voice.

"Yeah, something like that. I mean, I want to believe Naomi" she paused, then added quicky "my girlfriend, it's her name, would recover but the doctors said to her it was terminal and she wasn't responding to the treatment."

"For now. Maybe she could soon. It's not because it is terminal that all is sealed. Sometimes, people are cured, you don't know something for sure until it happened. If you believe things could improve, maybe it could help her to draw the strength to fight the cancer. I'm sure it had helped my husband. Well, it's not medicaly proved but you know, it doesn't hurt to think that."

"Yeah, her mother kept repeating it." Emily crushed the smocking remains with her foot while Jeff continued:

"It's something you learned when you're getting old. Thinking positive and all that sort of things."

The man finished his smoke and then said:

"Well, I was a pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances. I had to go, but I will think of you and your girfriend and I hope things will get better for you. Goodbye, and good luck."

With a last friendly smile, the man was gone. Emily saw his figure disappeared behind the white door and noticed the snow had begun to fall, tainted everything around her, as an attempt to blend the door in the urban setting. She realized she was freezing and decided after two minutes to follow the man. She went back to the hospital and climbed the stairs. As she reached the floor Naomi was, the oncology floor, she heard a man swearing:

"Fucking shit!"

The blond nurse had apparently hurt his foot, judging by his little jumps and loud cursing. Emily said, without knowing exactly why:

"Do you need any help?"

"Yes, well no, shit, I didn't mean to disturb you, I'm just clumsy, and you should probably go find your girfriend, not that I didn'want your help, it's just that... I'm rambling now, sorry."

"It's fine, she is with her mother and my sister, I could stay with you for five minutes." reassured Emily and she began to collect the objects who had fallen when the nurse had hit the carriage where they were. The guy shot her a bright smile and knelt down to pick up the syringes and other catheters lying on the floor. The brunette couldn't stop thinking it began to be an habit of her to run in somebody and do something until the person would break the silence, which the boy did indeed.

"You know, I really admire you for staying strong for the one you love." began timidly the blond-haired nurse.

"Well I'm not that strong, believe me." answered Emily because she wasn't, Naomi was.

"I could assure you are. I mean, not all the partners stayed with the patients when things become worse. It's hard."

Emily didn't replied, thinking about the moment when she had hesitated herself to come in the room, unable to support the view of Naomi dying but she knew she had to, because Naomi needed her and it was all that mattered. Oblivious to her silence, the man continued:

"I think it's better for people when the one they love are here to support them. I don't know, it just helps to keep the hope alive you know. But I don't blame those who can't, I mean if my girlfriend was here I don't know what I would do."

"Believe me, I had no idea neither. In fact, I never thought I would have to know what to do in that situation." Emily said a little harsher than she wanted it to sound. The guy blushed and apologized:

"Sorry, I didn't want to... Obviously nobody wants to face that, but the way you're doing it, well it's impressive. Her mother and your sister too."

At the mention of Gina and Katie, Emily smiled briefly. She didn't know what she would do if they were not there, particularly Gina.

"Yeah, they are wonderful. Gina is, how to say that? A bit too cheerful sometimes but I know she could smile even if the world was falling apart. In fact, her world and mine are, but she tries to cheers us up, to help and I know Naomi is grateful for this, even if she is not quite fond of acupuncture." added Emily added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I saw it." replied the guy. He paused and said: "I need to go to work but if you need anything, just ask for Adam, it's my name, and I will be here."

"Thanks."

"No thanks to you. You made me believe true love exists you know, the way she looks at you since you're here, it's incredible." And with that, Adam disapeared with his arms full of syringes, leaving a rather speechless Emily. A warm feeling was erupting in her chest. With just two talks with two people, she felt like she could dream and hope again, definitely, not like she had, with that thought in the corner of her mind that things could end at any moment because if it was probably the truth, she didn't need to think about it. She would stayed positive, because like Adam said, Naomi and her was true love, and it was not a cancer who would separate them. Katie had told her that, Gina too, but they were family, it was different. A big grin plastered on her lips, she entered the bedroom.

Katie was reading a magazine, Gina was trying to convince Naomi to try an another natural medicine and Naomi was rolling her eyes. Emily headed to her lover and kissed her lightly. Naomi asked her in a cough:

"Where were you Ems? You have been away for a rather long time."

"Oh I just talked a bit with this blond nurse, you know Adam. By the away Katie, he is taken."

"What?" Katie exclaimed, raising her head from her magazine.

"Bad luck Katie." said Naomi from her bed, smirking at the scene.

"Well, it is his bad luck, not mine. He doesn't know what he miss, that's all." retorted the older twin.

"Obviously." agreed Naomi with a mocking tone.

Emily sat next to her girlfriend and squeezed her hand with hers, a loving smile on the face. Yep, that was definitely her Naomi, no doubt about it. Gina was huming some Christmas song behind them and Katie went back to reading. Emily had reintegrated her small bubble in the hospital and she was fine with that.

* * *

December 31, they were all the four of them in the bedroom, counting the seconds before the New Year.

"Three... Two... One... Happy New Year!" bursted both Katie and Gina. They hugged, while Emily leaned down to kiss Naomi. When they broke apart, the blonde murmured:

"I'm so happy to have you by my side, Ems. And to see this New Year with you."

"We'll have a lot more New Year coming, babe." And for the first time since she were here, Naomi didn't tried to tell her she could die tomorrow, she just nodded silently before cuping Emily's head with trembling hands and kissed her one more time, but more firmly than the past days, as she put all her meager remaining forces in that kiss.

"With you, I'm sure I could anything, even surviving."


	3. The New Doctor

**Author's note: Here is the new chapter. Now that Emily and Naomi are hoping again, we could begin to enter in the medical journey properly, an to do that, I needed to introduce a new character - well not a real new one, hope you'll like it. **  
**Also, feedbacks are welcomed to let me know if I'm in the right direction and to improve this story.**

* * *

Three weeks had passed since the New Year and a routine began to develop, punctuated by daily analyzes, chats with Adam who was a friendly figure greatly appreciated in the middle of the closed faces and white coats the patients and their family had to face in the hospital, rest times when Naomi was tired, coffee break and generally times with Gina or Katie when they were here. Nevertheless, since three days, a new moment had erupted in Emily's routine. She had been contacted by the police who had raided Effy and Naomi's flat to search proofs against Effy and wanted her to take the affairs of her girlfriend in order to shut down the apartment for the duration of the trial. Since that call, Emily tried to move everything she could find in a small flat she had rent near the hospital, with the help of Gina or Katie, when the latter was not in Bristol, trying to keep her business afloat. Indeed, her associate had difficulties to do all the administrative work, she was more a designer, so Katie had to leave her the previous week to restore a little order in this. She had returned since and was organizing a schedule to do her work and be present for her sister.

Contrary to what had been predicted, Naomi was still alive after a month since her girlfriend arrived. She was still very sick, obviously, but had stopped puking and seemed to cling to life longer than the doctors had expected. They lived from day to day, each new sunrise corresponding to a small victory, each week was a fight against fate. Emily knew from Adam a lot of the nurses thought it was already a little miracle, given the short time she was predicted to have. Katie repeated her almost sister-in-law was way to stubborn to die just like that, and she was probably right, or anyway her twin wanted to believe it and when she saw her lover struggling to get out of her bed but finally walking with her help, even for three steps, she felt so proud of it she could almost break down from happiness.

This morning, Emily was waiting for Gina to come back in the room, the older woman was calling Kieran to tell him the last news, he could have not quit his job in Ireland but asked every day for any improvement or change. The tought of her almost step-daughter with a cancer appeared to affect him badly and he had sworn to Gina he would be in England as soon as possible if Naomi wanted to. Wondering what they could say to each other for a moment, she didn't notice the young woman arriving in front of her. A clearing of throat brought her on earth abruptly. Reluctantly, she raised her head to stare at the stranger. The unknown woman was rather tall, with brown hair and green eyes, was wearing a white doctor coat and was, Emily had to admit, quite pretty.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Richardson, I'm here to take the last analyzes of Naomi Campbell. You must be a relative of her?" the girl said with a genuine smile.

Emily replied after a moment "I'm her girlfriend in fact. Her mother is in the corridor at the phone. Do you want me to go get her?"

"Unless you want to, it's not necessary. I just have to do a little check-up, that's all." the doctor assured.

Emily nodded and followed the brown-haired woman in the room. Naomi was sleeping and it was hearbreaking to wake her up when she seemed so peaceful. Caustiously, the former redhead walked to the bed, leant down and placed a delicate kiss on the top of the blonde girl, whispering "Naoms, wake up, you have a visitor."

Her girlfriend grumbled but opened eventually her eyes and noticed the doctor who was waiting patiently for her patient to be ready. She gazed at her a long time and declared "I had never seen you before. You're new in the oncology ward?"

Doctor Richardson smiled nervously before explaining "Well to be honest, I'm an intern in surgery but I'm doing an internship in oncology so that's why you haven't seen me yet."

"Why an intern in surgery would want to go in oncology? It's pretty awful here." Naomi objected.

"It could help me progress in my carreer." the woman confessed.

"We're happy to help then." Emily retorted dryly, which made the doctor quite uncomfortable judging by the way she was swaying from one foot to the other but she didn't say anything and began to do her work without looking at the slightly pissed girl next to her. After what seemed an eternity, she finally stopped her manipulations and asked "Do you have something special to report?"

"Nothing." Naomi and Emily both answered at the same time.

"Nothing, really? No more pain, no puking, no fever?" Doctor Richardson insisted, seeming clearly confused by the statement.

The blonde looked at Emily before replying, the frown on her face showing she was a little taken aback by the questions "Since you increased the dose of drugs last week, the pain have been a lot more bearable. It still hurt like hell, believe me, but not as much as last month."

"We haven't. Increased the dose I mean, or it's not mentionned in your medical records. It's probably a mistake or an omission." Doctor Richardson declared in a shocked voice.

She nervously looked at her folder, turning the pages quickly, and muttered some incomprehensible sentences.

"Ok, I need to check something so if you'll excuse me..." and with that she left the room with a bang.

Naomi and Emily looked at each other with the same astonished face.

"That was... Odd, to say the least." Naomi uttered finally, broking the silence.

"Yeah, definitely," Emily agreed, before pursuing " You haven't told me about the pain."

Naomi shrugged. " I thought they had increased my dose of painkillers, to you know, getting me confortable. It's probably the case for all we know. Somebody could have forgotten to write it in my record."

"You're right. Nothing to worry about." Emily concluded.

* * *

Michelle Richardson ran through the corridors from five minutes when she stopped completely out of breath. Without bothering to knock on the door, she went into the rest room nurses and looked at the upper bed where a tuft of blond hair sticked out. The intern approached the man and shook the sleeping nurse unceremoniously, this abrupt awakening resulting with curses muttering by the poor guy who tried desperately to go back to sleep but gave up after a while. Adam sat in the bed, turned his head towards the girl and winced, clearly annoyed.

"What the fuck are you doing here? I'm trying to sleep!" he exclaimed, frowning.

"You could do that after. It's important so shut up and listen," Michelle replied, absolutely not taken aback by the lack of cooperation of her interlocutor. "You're the one who is in charge of Naomi Campbell, right?"

"Yes, mostly, but you could have asked this to one of my colleague you know." the nurse grumbled.

"That's not my point. I've checked her last analyzes and apparently, you might have forgotten to add in her medical record you have increased the drugs she is taken."

Now fully awake, Adam climbed down his bed and took the folder she handed him, concentrated as he read the pages. Finally, he said reluctantly "I don't understand what's going on with her, but believe me, I have never done any change in the dosages and nobody told me to. But her last results are quite odd."

The doctor sigued. "I know, that's why I came straight here when I read them. It's probably a mistake of the lab."

The blonde nurse remained silent for a moment, continuing to read mechanically the lines of the record then objected in a low voice, as he didn't believe himself what he was about to say "Maybe she is stabilizating."

Michelle gave him a look that seemed to say "Seriously?" but he continued even if he was clearly uncomfortable.

"Okay, it's unlikely, I get it. But, I don't know, we shouldn't ignore positive signs..."

"Come on, she is terminally ill. She can't suddenly get better." she insisted.

"She didn't responded to the treatment before, but she may now." he explained, his voice gaining strenght as he began to animate.

"It's too late. And why now?" the intern stated firmly.

"How could I know that? I'm not the doctor here! Besides, if these results didn't bother you, you wouldn't have come here. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right. It's disturbing. Look, we're going to do other analyzes before doing something. I need to be sure it's her real stats before..."

"Before what?"

"I don't know. Just, keep that to yourself, I don't want her or her family to have false hope."

"Of course."

They stayed in an akward silent after that and Michelle eventually headed to the door, turned back and said "Thank you for your help," she paused before pursuing "and sorry for interrupting your rest."

He smiled gently to her. "It was an emergency." She nodded and closed the door behind her.

Once outside, she took a deep breath trying to calm herself. She allowed two minutes to pass and walked back to the room of her patient number one. After that, she was sure of one thing, her first week in oncology would be nothing but interesting, she had a little mystery to solve, maybe even a big one. She walked back to the corridors, took the right equipment to do what she planned and entered for the second time of the day in Naomi's bedroom. Her brunette girlfriend talked animatedly about some views she found beautiful or something like that while an other who looked exactly like her was listening, adding something when it was apparently necessary. Leaning against the wall, a blonde older woman was reading some magazine. Michelle coughed to signal her presence and immedialtely, she felt four pairs of eyes on her. She forced herself to smile and was about to speak when the brunette opened her mouth.

"I suppose you have resolved the enigma of the painkillers, don't you?" The reading woman and the one Michelle supposed was her sister threw her an interrogative glance, but the girl prefered ignored them.

"Um, yes, it was just a little misunderstanding, nothing important. So, um, we need to do other tests today and..." She said in a not very assured voice, before being interrupted by Naomi.

"Again?" exclaimed the blonde with an unenthusiastic tone.

"Yes, it's a, well, new procedure." explained Michelle, congratulating herself mentally to have found an excuse almost believable in such a quick time.

"Oh right, we would go outside all the time you need doctor." the older blonde woman said. Reluctantly, the brunette agreed and followed her, flanked by her sister, leaving Michelle and her patient alone. The young intern began her work, and asked finally "So, is it your family?"

"Yes, you have seen Emily before, and the two other are her twin sister Katie and my mother. No need to tell you who is who, I think you could find easily." replied Naomi with humour.

Michelle smiled at the statement and continued "If it's not intrusive, how long you and Emily...?"

"Four years, almost five. Why?"

"I like to know who are my patients." The doctor answered truthfully. "And I'm impressed, it's a long time for a couple."

"Yeah." Naomi simply agreed, but her interlocutor could detect something in her voice, something close to sadness, as the woman couldn't believe it was nearly the end and Michelle felt a wave of compassion invade and gripping her heart. She knew she would have a hard time in this ward, but seeing a girl of her age in that state with a loving family and the future opened in an hospital room, with nothing left to hope broke her heart, mostly because despite her situation, the blonde seemed to fight for her life to have a little more time with the ones she loved. Suddenly, she understood why Adam wanted so badly the analyzes to mean something positive. It was impossible to not hope things would be better for their patients.

Michelle finished her work, thanked Naomi for her patience and after collecting all her things, she left the room, only to come face to face with Emily, her expression unreadable.

"Now you're out, would you tell me what's going on, Doctor Richardson?"

"What?" the intern asked, taken aback by the question.

"I'm not stupid. The results are incoherent, and now you have to do some news analyzes. So, please, I need to know the truth. Is it bad?" Emily explained.

"Oh no, no at all. We had a little problem, but with this scrutiny, we'll have all sorted."

Understanding it would not be good enough to reassure the brunette, she added quickly "Listen, I won't lie to you on the state of Naomi, so I assure you there is no need to worry. I promise."

With a nod of head, Emily eventually spread to let her pass. Michelle walked away, and thought "I got you Adam, I know why you thought she could be better. And I hope you're right."


	4. Memories helping

**Author's note: Here is the new chapter, a little longer than the previous one, things begin to be serious and the pace of events is likely to accelerate. Also, some other old figure is introduced...**  
**Also, I go on vacation for the next weeks, and I probably will not have internet, so I apologize in advance for the wait. But the good thing is I would be able to write some chapters in advance, so I hope the wait will worth it.**  
**Anyway, hope you'll like this chapter, review if it the case :) And, a big thank you for all the people who follow this story, add it to their favories or reviews, it means a lot.**

* * *

"So... It wasn't a lab error." stated Adam, looking at the results in front of him.

"Apparently not." said Michelle in a tired voice. She had been awake all night because she was on call and now she was facing a new problem at eight in the morning. She yawned loudly and read again the file, not believing what was written on. The intern raised her cup to her lips and took a sip of black coffee while wondering what she was going to do. She had not a lot of solutions and the nurse chose precisely this moment to verbalize all her thoughts.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but we haven't a lot of options. In fact, either it's a kind of swan song before the end, it happened sometimes, or it is a possible late improvement."

"Well, late indeed. Very late. Too late if I'm honest." Michelle exclaimed dryly, summarizing all their doubt in her sentences. She pursued her explanation. "Come on, even though she had found the strengh to finally fight this cancer, it's too late, she had probably tumors on every organ."

"Maybe. Maybe not. We have only one way to know it for sure." Adam declared firmly and the doctor knew immediately what he meant and she wasn't sure how to do that.

She sighed. "You want to do an MRI, don't you?"

"Yes. That's our only chance to know if it's really the end." The blonde guy answered, a light of hope in his eyes who indicated very well what he was praying to happen, something Michelle would love to see too, but the rational part of her mind told her to not jumping in hopeful conclusions only to watch them go up in smoke later. It would be too painful. She finished silentiously her coffee before asking what she had in mind since their earlier talk in the rest room.

"Do you think she had a chance ? I mean, really?"

He hesitated for a second. "I don't know, honestly. When she arrived, she was so ill it was almost impossible to think she would last more than a few weeks. But she is still here, and no longer alone. I mean, being surrounded by her family may have given her the strength her body needed to fight the cancer. Sometimes, psychology could affect people more than we thought it would."

"You're probably right." Michelle replied, her mind focusing on what the man had just said. The fact Naomi had now her beloved girlfriend with her and her relatives might help her to struggle more firmly for her life. The problem was, if she had too waited for that, it would only last some weeks before the final fall into the abyss.

"Also, Emily's presence to her side could have more to do with her health improvement than we thought. I'm sure she tries to survive the more time she could to be with her."

During a minute, the intern wondered if the nurse could read her mind, because for the second time this morning he had said exactly what she was thinking. Unaware of her mental statement, Adam pursued "And I know it's stupid, but I want to believe so badly it's not the end. I cannot help but think there is something to do, anything, for them. It's not rational, but …"

His sentences hit Michelle deeply, reopening wounds she had buried in her heart years before. For a brief moment, she saw again the funeral of Chris and her destroyed best friend and tears began to fall down her cheeks without her noticing. She would have anything to save her friend and she understood her grieve would have been easier if she had known for sure the doctors had done everything they could. Without thinking further, the woman stood up, opened the door and said to a briefly stunned Adam "Let's do an MRI then."Smiling, the nurse followed her through the corridors of the hospital.

* * *

"Do you remember this beach in Goa? The one where you loved to stay at night?"

"How could I ever forget it?" Naomi answered, her eyes shining at the memories while Emily continued to talk about their trip together the summer after their reconciliation in Freddie's shed when the blonde had finally admitted her true feelings for the girl she had loved since she were twelve years old. During the two months they had shared in Goa, the two of them had reconnected their mind and bodies, forgetting about those horribly past months of anger and bitterness and it was at that time that Naomi realized that she not only could not imagine her life without Emily, but above all they could overcome everything together, because they were meant to be. Ironically, she didn't think "everything" would turned to "terminally ill cancer", something she wasn't sure she could survive. She had tried for the past weeks to fight for Emily and she felt a little better, but to her it was just her last shot before the real end, maybe a trick of her own body. Anyway, she wanted to enjoy every moment they have together without thinking the worst.

"You remember, the night we stayed together for hours in this little hidden cove you've discovered? It was so perfect, so beautiful." Emily said, lost in her memories.

"Well, to me it wasn't the cove which was beautiful, but you... Naked." Naomi declared with a cheeky smile which widened when she saw Emily blushed. Even after all these years and in an hospital bed, she was able to make Emily blush, and it was something she was very proud of.

"God, I would have prefered to ignore that, Campbell." Katie sighed as usual when she caught them talking about some... private memories.

"Come on, Katie, it's not like you ignore we have a sex life... Plus you had a pretty good proof of it if I remember correctly." Naomi replied, smirking at the look on Katie and Emily's faces, although it was not the same, one was horrified and the other as red as it was possible to be.

"Don't ever remind this, please. Walking on you two was probably the worst thing I've ever done. Ever." The older twin shivered, while the two others were sharing a knowing smile, the vision of a sunny afternoon in Naomi's old house and an unannounced visit of Katie resulting of her promising to never enter again in their bedroom without knocking because some things didn't need her to see them in their mind. It was the days were they had nothing to worry about, no dead friend or jail or cancer, just love and its consequences. They were so lost in their memories that the three of them didn't hear Gina entered.

The woman looked at them and asked "Why are you all smiling?"

"Nothing mum. Just remembering old times." Naomi explained, prefering not giving too much details to her mother, it would have been embarassing otherwise.

"Oh... Sexy times?"

"Mum!" Naomi exclaimed and Katie burst out laughing, followed by Emily. After a moment, even Naomi had to giggled and finally, they were all laughing when they heard somebody coming in the room.

Doctor Richardson and Adam walked in and looked at each other to decide who would speak first and after a nod of the head, the brown-haired woman took a deep breath.

"Um, good morning. Naomi, how are you today?"

"The same as yesterday."

"Okay. So we have the results of your analyzes and, well, we wondered if..."

"If you'll accept a new MRI." Adam finished, ignoring the scowl the intern gave to him about his total lack of subtility.

"Why?" Emily asked, speaking aloud what they were wondering.

"Let's just say we need to do some researches further that some blood test." The young doctor explained, not wanting to give them the real reason entirely. False hope would be too devastating to bear.

"First, the test, now the MRI, then what? What's wrong?" Emily asked again, clearly upset by the turning of the events.

"Nothing. In fact, we are not sure ourselves of what's going on, that's why it would be very useful to let us do the MRI." Adam replied calmly, trying to reassure the brunette without lying to her directly.

"Does the cancer has reached a new area?" Naomi said and seeing the looks everyone gave to her, she continued "I'm used to this medical things now. When you want patients to have a new radio or MRI, it means you suppose something isn't going the way you thought it would. So tell me the truth."

"Actually, we don't know." Michelle answered honestly.

"Okay. Let's do it then, it's not as if I had the choice." Naomi concluded.

They had done what have been decided. Emily, Katie and Gina accompanied her until they were told to stay in the waiting room and the younger twin had kissed her girlfriend before leaving her. Now, Naomi was lying on the back in the big machine, with blue lights everywhere around her. She knew when the MRI began when she heard the familiar loud sound of the thing. It always started slowly before getting louder and louder, until becoming hardly bearable. So she managed to stand still the same way she had done before, thinking about a particularly happy memory.

_It was Emily's birthday -and Katie's too, obviously- and Naomi woke up early in the morning to bring her breakfast in bed, very happy it was a Sunday when they had not to go to Uni. Once satisfied with her work, she reached their room and placed the tray on the dresser before climbed silently on their bed. The blonde gazed at Emily for a moment, stroking absentmindedly the red locks and began to kiss her neck lightly. She smiled when she heard Emily let out a contented sigh. Her lover turned to face her and she felt the most wonderful pair of lips in the world on her own. The kiss deepened quickly and they finally broke apart, both breathless._

_"Hello, beautiful." Emily said in her husky voice, the one she had when she had just woken up and Naomi found so terribly sexy._

_"Hello to you too. And happy birthday." Naomi replied cheerfully before getting out of the bed._

_"I thought I would have some crazy sex for my birthday you know." Emily pouted playfully._

_"Oh, it's planned, don't worry. But I wanted to give you your gift before. Plus, you'll need some energy, so I made breakfast." Naomi replied with a cheeky smile, carefully placing the tray on the bed. She sat next to Emily who rewarded her effort by a loving kiss and murmured in her ear "Thank you." They ate while making some little chat about the rest of the day and the inevitable Fitch family party. When they finished, Naomi removed the tray and took a deep breath, before pulling out a small black box out of her pocket. Emily's eyes widened and a little cry escaped her when her girlfriend opened it to discover a small ring in it._

_"Don't worry, I'm not going to propose now," Naomi chuckled, then continued "but someday I will, and I bought this ring for you to make a promise. I promise you to love you until the end of my life, because I plan to pass my life with you. I promise you I won't ever turned away because you are my way. You are my past, my present, and I promise you my future." She saw tears forming in Emily's eyes and she had just finished her speech when Emily pulled her and kissed her with more passion than she had ever done, saying she had the same plan that her between their meeting lips and their tongue battling._

_The redhead pulled away only to say with the biggest smile on the earth" You're sure you don't want to propose to me? 'cause it was probably the most beautiful speech I've ever heard."_

_"Now you said that to me, I'm wondering, it could be good to let go my fucking last name, don't you think?" Naomi replied smirking._

_"So you're only interested in my name?" Emily asked cheerfully._

_"Well, secondly, you know the one thing I'm interested in is you."_

_"Really?"_

_"Really."_

_"Then show me." And Naomi showed her. For hours. After all, it was what was planned._

The bright light of the room around her brought Naomi to reality. Adam was here, smiling gently and he asked while he helped her to sat on her weelchair "You seem happy, any good thoughts to share with me?"

"Yeah, really good ones. Wonderful memories in fact." She lost herself in her thoughts and Adam decided to not insist further. He had recognized the look on her face, it was the one you had when you remembered something about the one you loved, but something with a particular meaning, a meaning you can't share with anyone. The nurse had a pretty good idea on the person Naomi was thinking about, but he said nothing and merely push the chair out of the room.

When they arrived at the waiting room, he warned the three women who were here it was finished. They followed him quickly and while Emily asked her girlfriend how she felt, her twin gave him a piercing glance and she said in a low voice "So, how it is?"

"I don't know yet, but we'll have the results soon, I promise." He was about to return to his duty of the moment -pushing the weelchair- but the fierce look Katie kept adressing to him made the nurse decided otherwise.

He held her gaze for a moment and said "What about you escorte them to the bedroom when I go to find out about the first images we got?"

Katie nodded. "Okay." she simply uttered and she left him in the middle of the corridor. He turned and walked until the right room.

Michelle Richardson was already looking into the images they had taken. Silently, he stood at her side and asked after reviewing the pictures "How it is?"

The intern didn't replied immediately, focusing on her inspection. She was really concentrated, seeming yet thinking about all the options they had, what the pictures could tell them and if they was enough to establish a pre-diagnosis.

"The ovaries are screwed, probably the uterus too but we knew that before. You see that?" she explained, pointing the peritoneal area, "The tumors are still here, but they seem to have stop progressing. And, this one is really interesting," Michelle added, her finger on the liver "The tumors on it have mostly disapeared which is really incredible, or at least we can't see them. If the liver is almost unharmed, I think it's possible to consider a new treatment protocol. But, to be sure, it would be better to realize a laparotomy."

"Yeah, but it's good news. She may be finally improving, we were right!" Adam exclaimed, excited about the idea of hoping they have a chance to save a life.

"Don't be too happy about it, we need to convince the head of the service to reconsider her case, and I think it will be much harder to achieve that than to make a simple MRI. Oh, and of course, we haven't asked the permission to do it, so he won't be very pleased and..."

"Hang on a minute. You haven't asked the permission?" the nurse asked incredulously.

"He would have never give it to me, you know that." Michelle replied matter-of-factly, even she felt a little shiver on her spine at the thought of what the head oncologist would say.

"You could loose your internship." Adam pointed carefully, not knowing what reaction he should expect in response to his remarks.

"I'm perfectly aware of that, thank you. But we needed sufficient evidence before going to find him." She said a little more coldly than before. Michelle knew what she had done was against the deontology of the hospital, but the thought of Chris had quickly made her worries about her carrier vanish.

Adam remained silent for a moment before asking gently "Why are you doing this?"

The intern paused the pros and cons of answering in her head before explaining slowly "One of my friend died when I was younger. Too young. I don't want something like that to happen to her if I could prevent it." The details were not necessary, and the man not pushed further.

Michelle sighed before asking with a smile "So, we have an oncologist to convince. You come?"

With a friendly nod, he followed her.

* * *

In Naomi's room, everyone seemed to be back to their usual occupations, that is chatting for Naomi and Emily, listening for Katie and reading for Gina. Their little bubble was broken when they heard Emily's phone ringing loudly. With an apologetic smile, she left the room and she picked up the phone.

"Yes?"

"Tony Stonem speaking. I need your help, Emily Fitch."


	5. Questions of duty

**Author's note: I'm finally back from vacation with a new chapter, so I hope it worth the wait and you'll enjoy this one. Thank you for your support :)**

* * *

" So, basically, you want me to testify for Effy at her trial, to say she was busy helping my terminally ill girlfriend, which she was not by the way, and to assure she was only the poor victim of her abusive superior who took advantage of her mental instability to drag her into a massive financial fraud she had made by herself?" Emily exclaimed, trying to keep her voice firm despite the massive anger she felt forming in the pit of her stomach at the simple idea of helping her former friend getting out of jail. When she had said she would never forgive Effy, she meant all the words she spat to her, guided by one of the strongest feeling of betrayal she had ever felt in her life, and a hug with some comforting words couldn't ever erase her deep resentment.

Furthermore, Naomi had told her about her suspicions about Effy's problems with the law because the call they had received some time ago from the brunette lawyer stating that she was pursued by the FSA for financial fraud. They didn't know exactly what Effy did, but from what the blonde had riddled and what a man named Dominic had told to her one morning day before taking a fly for an another country, it was not as if the former trader was completely innocent. In fact, she was quite certainly guilty.

"Well, that's a good summary, a bit too simplistic nevertheless." retorted calmly Tony Stonem, clearly unimpressed by the tone of his interlocutor which resulted only in a little more upset Emily. She took a deep breath and resisted the urge to smash her cell phone against the white wall.

"Why have you called me? You knew I would refuse, no matter what you could say to try to convince me!" Emily just verbalized what bugged her in that unexpected call. She had been perfectly clear to Effy, but in addition, it wasn't like Effy to ignore what the reactions of people could be. Although she had lost a part of her knowing-all behaviour, she still was pretty good to read people, and particularly her friends. Maybe not too good, because apparently she had not seen the little dark side of her charming boss Emily told herself in a mental note. Anyway, the former redhead was almost sure Effy told her brother not to contact her. So why?

"It didn't cost anything to try."

God, being infuriating seemed to be a particular trait of the Stonem family thought Emily, her self-control roughly tested. She paused before trying again, promising to stop after that last shot of questions.

"And the real reason? Correct me if I'm wrong but you're not even her lawyer, are you?"

"Not exactly, but he is one of my old friend from Uni, so he was glad to accept my proposition to help him. It's my little sister's future we're talking about." Emily clenched her left fist, anger boiling her blood hearing Tony Stonem affected some interest in his younger sister. She remembered Effy's breakdown at the end of their second year in college, how Katie, Naomi and her took care of her after Pandora departure, how Naomi and her accepted to let her install in their flat while Tony was never there to help, always giving crap excuses about having classes he couldn't avoid or something like that.

"Wow, going to jail was the key of getting your help in fact. How sweet of you Tony." She snapped bitterly.

The silence which answered her showed she had struck a nerve and she felt a poor and almost ashamed satisfaction invading her at Tony's apparent discomfort. She had a fucking point against him, and her anger towards Effy was momentarily fully turned against him. As the silence dragged on, Emily began to think that the older Stonem might have hung up but suddenly the male voice said in an unimpressed tone "I'm sure you're really tired because of your situation and I'll call you later to know your answer. I assure you my best wishes and my support in those difficult times. Goodbye Emily." Before she could say something, the photographer heard the unmistakable sound of a finished call. She stared at her phone blankly and finally put it in the pocket of her jeans.

Emily opened the room' door and was greeted by Naomi's smile and the view of this made her heart melt. Her girlfriend, even with her slow and very slight improvement in her health or what seemed so was still very weak and the way her face light up whenever she saw her reminded Emily why she was fighting for: seeing this face again.

"You have been outside a long time Ems. It was your boss who called you?" Naomi asked, interested.

Emily struggled finding her word then uttered "No it wasn't. In fact, it was rather an unexpected person, to say the least. I don't even know why he tried to contact me, it's not like he didn't know what I would answer him. And how could she have my number? Maybe..."

"You're rambling Emily." Naomi interrupted her kindly while Katie rolled her eyes in her chair, a look of slight annoyance at her twin confused speech. She sighed "Spit it out. What's up? And try to explain it in one sentence."

"Tony. Tony Stonem called me."Emily confessed, trying to sound as casual as possible. She didn't want to bother Naomi, but most of all, she didn't know how to deal with that new issue in her already quite busy and angsty life. The look on Katie and Naomi's faces matched her own when she heard Tony Stonem voice at the other end of the telephone line: it was a total shock. Stunned, her twin uttered taking a deep breath "Tony Stonem like in Tony Stonem the brother of Effy Stonem?"

"Do you think there are a lot of others Tony Stonem who would call me?" retorted Emily dryly.

Katie stopped immediately, her sister having a point. She mumbled something under her breath but let Emily continue her explanation without interrupting her, reserving her questions for later. Emily swallowed hard then began "He wanted me to go at Effy's trial." Both Katie and Naomi threw her questionning glances, and she carried on.

"Apparently, he is an acquaintance of Effy's lawyer. In fact, he told me they were in Uni together and he tried to build her defense with him. The idea is to blame Effy's boss if I've understood correctly." She knew she delayed her explanation to try to avoid the real problem and was perfectly aware that her sister and her girlfriend were realizing she was keeping something from them. Emily hesitated but gave up when her eyes crossed Naomi encouraging look.

"He asked me to testify for her." She admitted finally, feeling an odd weight leaving her chest as though she was relieved to tell somebody about this intriguing call. Katie eyes widened while Naomi blinked but seemed not as surprised as Emily was when she heard Tony's request.

"Well, it's not that surprising when you think about it." Her girlfriend declared then added quickly before letting Emily a chance to interrupt her. "I mean, why would he call you if it wasn't for her sister? It's not like we really knew him anyway."

Emily didn't find something to respond immediately mostly because Naomi seemed not that bothered by the idea of Tony Stonem asking her a favor, nor Katie judging by her small nod of approval at the blonde statement. Besides, her sister apparently wanted to ask the underlying question everyone sensed in the room.

"So? What did you said?"

Emily had always believed honesty was the best policy, so she told them the simple truth.

"No. I told him I won't help."

"What?" exclaimed at the same time Katie and Naomi, both frowning with shock. Emily felt a little annoyance rushing in her veins, wondering what the two had expected from her. Annoyance which redoubled when her twin insisted.

"But, Eff is our friend, if you could offer something to her defense, you shoud accept."

"She was my friend." Emily said crossly.

Naomi, who had remained silent, placed her right hand on Emily's and cleared her throat in order to attract her attention. She squeezed it briefly.

"She is mine Em, and Katie's too. You can't let her risk years in jail just because you're angry at her."

Emily winced and shook her head. She didn't know how to express what she felt deep inside her. She was angry obviously, but there were something else who prevent her from helping Effy. From what she knew, Effy was partly responsible for her own misery and testify about their past friendship or using her former mental illness to exonerate her current misdeeds only to build an acceptable defense was not exactly her idea of telling the truth and only the truth.

"It'not only about my resentment towards her," she began, trying to put some words on her thoughts because she owned the real explanation to Naomi, "I'm not even sure to be able to lie to the court. Don't try to deny it, you know it's true, you know Effy did it, had built a financial fraud only to please her wanker boss."

"But, you won't lie if you told the judge about her past, or..." she trailed off then finished in a whisper "what she did before getting arrested." They stared at each other, both knowing too well what Naomi really wanted to say but didn't dare to utter because the wound of not telling Emily sooner was still fresh. The silence between them settled down and after a long time, Emily said softly what was on her mind.

"It's not even true Naomi. She was not busy trying to alleviate your pain or helping you through your therapy and you know that."

Her girlfriend didn't replied immediately, too aware of the truth behind Emily's word but said eventually "Yeah but she is still my friend and I don't want to have her condemnation on my conscience if we could do something about it. Plus, she called you, it does count for something, right?"

When she saw her sister not saying a word, Katie added hastily to Naomi's plea "She is right and more than that, it's not you Emily to not forgive your friend and let them in their own shit."

The younger twin stared at the two girls she loved the most in the world and sighed finally "I need to think about it. I'm sorry, but I can't..."

She was cut by Naomi who assured kindly "It's okay, Em, it's okay." Even if it wasn't the case, Emily felt a little relieved by the blonde's words, as usual.

* * *

"You have done what?" yelled Doctor Russell, his face red with anger. Michelle saw Adam sighed next to her and if she was honest with herself, the torrent of complaints they have heard for almost twenty minutes was absolutely boring, the worst being not able to defend themselves. She knew it would not be a cakewalk to tell Russell about the unreported tests and MRI but until now he had exceeded her worst expectations and it was not really a joy. Not at all. Her ears smoked under the onslaught of repeated shouts from the head of the oncology service and she knew by the look on the nurse face she was not the only one to curb craving for murders.

She had never been fond of Russell, even though she wasn't in the oncology ward for a long time. He was considered as a good specialist but he had way of considering the interns and the nurses she couldn't bear. Nevertheless, she was aware of deserving the criticism of her superior so she endured his rage without saying a word. But when he began to rant about the "uselessness of their tests and the stupidy of doing some for a dying patient" she sensed Adam clenched his fists, ready to burst and opened her mouth to say what the both of them thought.

"Excuse me but I have to disagree with you on that point. It was useful and it provided us some precious information about the progress of her cancer, or rather the notable lack of progress."

"That's rubbish. Either it's a swan song or it's because you haven't see the tumors correctly with the MRI."

"Well, that's exactly why we need to do a laparotomy to be sure." Michelle argued trying to keep her voice calm and firm.

"You want this girl to endure an other procedure when she is dying? Are you crazy?"

"Maybe she is not" Michelle risked.

"She is fucking terminal! I have personnaly checked her case before stating the treatment wasn't working and we couldn't do anything since the cancer had reached new areas!" He shouted, now furious and the brunette understood with some unfortunate delay where was the real problem. The man seemed to take as a questioning of his judgement their willlingness to make new analyzes. Probably the fact the two defying him were an intern in surgery and a nurse wasn't helping either.

"So you'll condemn her without checking?" asked furiously Adam who failed at containing himself any longer.

"I have checked! Who are you to judge my medical choice?" Russell thundered, the threat in his voice clear.

"Look, what we want is just the permission to do the laparotomy, that's all. Just to be sure before taking her in palliative care." Michelle said quickly, trying to calm the two men who were trying to defy the other by their furious glares.

"I don't give it to you! I won't legitimate your stupid idea!" He yelled, red spots appearing on his neck, the eyes throwing lightnings. The intern was absolutely sure her now furious boss would never give them the permission, thus she had two options: giving up or trying the stupid idea that began to form in her mind.

"We understand your point, Doctor Russell, we would not bother you any longer." she said, receiving a puzzled and infuriated look from her henchman.

She made Adam a sign to follow her which he did after a brief moment of hesitation. She closed the door and they reached in a heavy silence the nurse room. They entered and the man exploded almost immediately.

"Why have you not insisted?"

"Because I knew it was a lost case!"

"So? You just give up?"

"No. I have an other idea. Not exactly the most ethical one I've had but it's not as we haven't crossed the boundaries of what is normally permitted." She said with a little smirk.

"I have the impression it would be an unexpected but surprisingly good one." Adam responded with a smile on his face.

"If we have not the permission of the oncologist, maybe we could have the surgeon's."She explained, her smile growing and turning in a mischievous one.

The nurse was speechless for a moment, the realization of what she implied slowly hitting him. Then he asked, unsure "Are you trying to say you want to transfer her in surgery to make the laparotomy?"

"And to perform the operation after we saw precisely what could be done, yes. I'm an intern in surgery you know."

"Yeah but it's not..." He began, before adding "Fuck it, I'm in."

One hour later, they were in Doctor James office, radio and reports all over the desk, recaping all the history of Naomi's case. Even if it was not exactly medicaly related, Adam insisted on the family around the girl, trying to show the support she had now. The surgeon was considered as a good man, kind, honest and a brilliant pratician, he might be touched by some additional background which couldn't obviously hurt.

"And you said she was diagnosed terminal?" the doctor asked, examining the pictures Michelle handed him.

"Yes, approximatively five months ago." The woman responded quickly, trying to sound as professional as possible.

The head surgeon remained silent for some minutes, frowning and mumbling something under his breath. The two others stared anxiously at him, waiting for the decision, Michelle crossing and uncrossing her fingers while Adam was throwing glances to Doctor James. Finally, he turned to them and announced with a little smile what they wanted to hear.

"Ok, I'll do it." Immediately, the two partners-in-crime began to thank him profusely but he stopped them by a wave of his right hand and added sternly "Let's be clear. You'll do this an other time, override the rules I mean, steal a patient from a ward to another and defying direct orders, I'll fire you." Given by the look on his face, he was deadly serious so they decided to nod silently and exited the room with a last thank you.

"We need to tell them whtat's really going on now." Michelle said once they were in the white corridor.

"Let's go then." Adam declared with a cheerful tone in his voice.

When they entered Naomi's room, the twins and the blonde were deep in their conversation, something about one of their friends apparently. Gina Campbell spotted them first and asked them with a smile if they had the results of the MRI by now, seeming slightly anxious despite her tentative smile.

"Yes, we have received them. Actually, we have some good news. We have discovered that the cancer seems to have stopped its progression, or at least that it is much slower than expected. More than that, the liver could be almost unharmed. If it's true, which I think it is,we might consider surgery." Michelle explained, watching the face of Gina lit up while the three younger girls seemed stuned.

"We need to do a laparotomy to know exactly how the situation is and decided a protocol to intervene precisely." The nurse added and the smiles faded a little.

"You're sure or not about whatever you found? Because if it's false..." Katie began but was interrupted by the intern before finishing her sentence.

"We don't want to give you false hopes, that's why we did all those tests to be sure about our diagnosis. Now we just need your agreement to transfer you in the surgery ward, Doctor James, the head surgeon, accepted to take your case and do the laparotomy plus the surgical intervention you'll possibly need."

Emily rose from the corner of the bed where she was, her lips trembling with emotion without letting go of the hand of Naomi. She looked at the two people in front of her, a glint of hope in her eyes.

"But they had told us... And now, you are trying to say Naomi could... She could..." The former redhead stuttered, unable to verbalize what she felt. Her girlfriend squeezed her hand gently and said calmly "I think we need to talk about details." Her eyes met her mother's and the two blondes shared a look of mutual understanding. Gina stood up and told her and Katie would leave them alone with the doctor and the nurse. Katie blinked, taken aback and was about to express her disapproval but was silented quickly by the look Emily gave her so she followed Gina outside.

Emily asked immediately "Why are you transferring her in another ward?"

The blonde nurse and the brunette intern exchanged a glance and the latter explained finally "Well, Doctor James was interested when we submitted your case to him" She paused, searching her words and the better way to tell them the truth without accusing the oncologist of being an insensitive he seemed to be, but it wasn't the matter.

"He didn't want to take another look on my case, did he?" Naomi said directly and pursued when she saw the puzzled faces of the three other people in the room "I'm not stupid you know, it would be like admitting he was wrong months ago. Not sure I'll be willing to do it if I was in his shoes."

"Yeah, uh, anyway, we convinced Doctor James to do it, so he is not an issue now." Michelle stated akwardly.

"So, I'm ok to do what you want. Either I'm going to palliative care, or I'm having the surgery. It's not a difficult choice you know." Naomi concluded. The two visitors nodded and exited the room. Gina and Katie came back after their departure and asked what they had decided. Emily told them about the decision of Naomi and they stayed silent for a moment, before Katie uttered "Wow, that's incredible."

"Yeah, but let's not be too fast. It could be a false alert." Naomi replied.

"Of course love. But it's a great new though." Gina's optimistic mood was revived by the perspective of the surgery and her smile was contagious. The four women were quickly doing light talks about the events, trying to be as calm as possible to not tire Naomi. But the hope was back. To add an other motive of satisfaction, Katie decided to talk about the idea she had in mind since Tony's call.

"I know it's not exactly the right moment, but I've thought about Effy's trial and I think I have a way of helping her without bothering you Em." Her friends threw her questionning glances, so she elaborated, a smirk forming in the corner of her mouth "I could testify for Effy."

* * *

**A/N: So... What do you think about Emily's reaction? I wasn't sure of how to handle it...**

**Don't forget to review to let me know about your thoughts, it's precious for improve my writing and this story. :)**


	6. The King of Roundview

**Author's note: Hello everyone, so I finally published this new chapter, I'm really sorry for the wait, but with Uni starting, I haven't a lot of time to write and I had a hard time writing this one, because Tony gave me some difficulties... This one is such a legend I wanted to do him justice.**

**Thanks for the reviews of the previous chapter, it was so nice to see you involved in the story guys, and seeing you enjoyed the reactions of the characters made me so happy that I wanted to do the same for all my chapter :)**

**Enjoy this one :)**

* * *

Katie shivered under the morning rain which fell on the city, a cold winter strengthening her discomfort. Refrigerated, she wondered for a moment why she was doing this, before remembering her old friend needed her so she accelerated her pace. After a long time, she reached a little coffee shop and allowed herself a brief smile then breathed deeply, trying to compose an impenetrable mask. The elder twin knew who she would be confronted to in a couple of minutes and with Tony Stonem, everything was possible, even the worst and most unexpected situations no matter if you are with or against him.

To be honest, she was quite curious of seeing what the famous Roundview's king had become during those years. The last she heard about him was nearly two years ago, when Effy called her to know if she could crash with her for a couple of days due to Naomi and Emily's anniversary and their voluntee to "celebrate" it, meaning a total impossibility for the girl to sleep, or even live in the same flat, and explaining to a reluctant Katie who planned to spend her free week-end with her new boyfriend that Tony had a big internship in France and rent his apartment to cover up the cost of living in a foreing country so she couldn't go in it. Apparently, he was back to England and more surprising, ready to help Effy.

After the discovery of Freddie's body added to Cook departure, her sister had a big breakdown, which was the word used by some psychiatrist she went to, and the biggest understatment Katie had ever heard. The truth was that Effy was an absolute mess which was understandable, broken like a doll headed off, without any interest for anything other than the white wall before her. She kept fixing it for hours without moving any eyelashes as if he could tell her why her lover had been murdered for nothing but the foolishness of an insane man. It had been some really harsh days, seeing her friend like this while trying to realise it was not an awful nightmare but the terrible and unescapable reality in which Katie had lost a friend, and an ancient lover. Even if Freddie had never been in love with her, she cared deeply for him and after they break-up plus the summer to think about it, they managed to stay friends which was something Katie was very proud of. In fact, he was her only ex-boyfriend she kept contact with. Anyway, they were all destroyed by the news and the death of their friend. JJ had been locked on for two days, unable to speak coherently, Panda was totally silent while Thomas tried to confort everybody with kind words, saying one of them had to remain strong for the rest of them, Naomi and Emily, finally reunited, looked for any new about Cook, the blonde deadly worried something bad happened to him too and helped the most they could. Katie herself didn't quit Effy bedside, fearing her friend tried again to commit suicide.

This summer, they all stayed with Effy, relaying to be sure she was safe while assuring a little break in family for all of them. JJ took a few days away with Lara and baby Albert whereas Naomi and Emily went for Goa as the blonde had promised. The others agreed to let them longer than the rest of the group, knowing seeing some of them truly happy and in love would help to grieve. When the two girls went back to Bristol, it was time for Pandora and Thomas to go living their dreams to Harvard. The goodbyes were terrible, Effy cried silently, which was the first sign of life she had given to them since the drama and an heartbreaking vision. Katie remembered vividly the aching in her chest she felt, unable to stop her tears to fall, like JJ, Naomi and Emily.

Then, it had been a period of blur, where they were trying to stayed afloat, JJ leaving for Cardiff university, Naomi and Emily accepting to take Effy in their flat near their uni while Katie headed to the world of fashion, thanks to an unexpected internship. During a while, Effy refused to talk, living in her silent world and suddenly, one day, after a big argument between Naomi and Emily, she told them they were "two stupid wankers".

Effy was back, with three words and a wink.

From that moment, life had continued, they had all grown up, discovering the adult world and its disillusionment, as difficulties to find a job for Naomi, or going to an internship without her lover and the couple problems induced by that situation for Emily, paying the rent for Effy, taking care of a baby while working for JJ and the beauty of administrative issues for herself. They weren't kids playing with life now, they were adults whose life played with.

Katie shook her head in a try to collect herself, chasing her memories and reflexions out of her mind, concentrating on her task. She pushed the door, entering in a cosy room filled with coffee smell and immedialtely she knew where her man was. Leaning nonchalantly at the bar, mystery smile placated on his face, intelligent piercing blue eyes fixing her and wearing perfect black suit, was standing Tony Stonem.

She walked towards him, trying to exhale a confidence she was far from to really feel, putting her best unimpressed mask on her face. Tony turned his head in her direction at this moment and when he saw her, his smirk widened distinctly. Their eyes locked and Katie missed falter under the gaze of this ocean color balls which gauged and detailled her with some amusement at the bottom of this blue eyes, but she remained to stay apparently strong and decided. The man detached himself off the counter and held out his hand.

"Good morning, you must be Katie, am I wrong? It's a pleasure to meet you even in this uneasy circumstances. I'm Tony Stonem, Effy's brother." He introduced himself, and Katie understood immediately the reason of Tony's legend. He had a way to be as pleasant as one person could be, knowing what to say to make yourself confortable.

"Yes, you're right, I'm Katie Fitch and I know who and how you are, Tony. We're here for something, so we could cut the presentations don't you think?" She replied coldly, not taking his hand.

Tony didn't replied. He gave her a sign to invite Katie to follow him and headed to a small table in the corner of the room, inviting to sit down in front of him.

They settled and he said: " Before we start, I wanted to thank you for coming. Your input in Effy's defense will be very precious you know."

"Well, I couldn't not do something." She replied, a bit embarassed.

"Oh you could have, but you're here and I will remember this, believe me. Anyway, I should begin by explaining what I expect for you to do." He paused, verifying he had all her attention, then pursued. "Our strategy for the trial is to prove that Effy was under influence when she did her little financial mistake, so we have to convince the judge of how easily infuenced she is. That's why your deposition will be crucial. Your have been a witness of her mental issues when you were younger, we have to work on that. Are you ok with that?" Tony's voice had suddenly changed, he was detached, explaining bluntly the facts, focused on their bussiness.

Katie remained silent for a minute, thinking about what he proposed. On the one hand, she didn't like the idea of exploiting Effy mental issues like that, but on the other hand, it was surely a good point to build her defense. She was torn between her loyalty and her honesty but knew she was the only one who could help her so she nodded slowly.

"As long as I have to tell only the truth, it suits me."

"Of course, we both want to say the truth and only the truth you know. It's just that sometimes, you need to have the good way to tell the truth to make the others see it." Tony responded, eyes glitering while he explained what Katie thought could be defined as an arrangement with reality or more simply a trickery.

Tony must have seen the doubt on Katie's face because he changed the subject quickly and they began to talk about the details on the future testify Katie would have to do. They agreed on what to say and what to keep for themselves and before the elder Fitch knew it, two hours had passed. The man seemed satisfied and told her at the end of their meeting:

"I'm really happy about our fructuous collaboration Katie. What a pity your sister wasn't as enthusiastic as you to help."

The last bit hit Katie hard and she felt her anger came back after had almost vanished. How could he say such an horrible thing, this little bastard! So she rose violently from her chair and said exactly what were her thoughts.

"Don't dare tell anything about my sister, Tony Stonem! I agreed to do this only because Effy and I have been friend and I can't let her rot in jail without doing something I know I could. But she hurt Emily way too much to be forgiven and it is too quick for her to help Effy. Plus, do you remember Emily has a girfriend in a fucking hospital to take care of or it's just another fucking uneasy circumstance as you said? Because we talk about the love of her life who was horribly sick while your sister was too occupied to fuck her boss to pass one little call to tell her the truth?"

During her rant, Tony stayed silent, his annoying little smirk on his face, and he said when she stopped to breathe " Effy told me about the Fitch temper, but she forgot to add it was terribly sexy to see you like this. But please, don't try that on the judge, he could be not as charmed as me."

That was unexpected, to say the least. Tony, like his sister, had a gift to return a situation in his favor with just one or two sentences and he took Katie by surprise. Destabilized, she was unable to find her words and couldn't throw back to him one of the venomous replies she had in her mind.

Tony gave her a slightly amused look, got up, picked his coat and said "It was a entertaining meeting, but I have others things to do today, so goodbye Katie, I'm sure I'll see you soon. By the way, give to your sister and her girlfriend my best wishes." And with that, he exited the bar, leaving a distraugh Katie alone in the corner.

* * *

When Katie entered in Naomi's new room, she was surprised to see the bed empty and nobody around. Wondering if she was not mistaken floor, the elder twin came back to the corridor, looking for something or something able to inform her. She finally saw a brown-haired tall nurse and hurried to ask her if she was in the right place.

"You're here to see Naomi Campbell? Oh yes, it's her new room, but she is in surgery, Doctor James is performing her laparotomy now. I'm pretty sure her relatives are in the waiting room if it helps you." She told her kindly.

Katie thanked her and ran through all the long hallways and stairs until she saw the faded yellow of the waiting room. She entered and found immediately her sister and Gina who where alone in the room, glancing nervously at the clock. When they became aware of her presence, they got up on their feet and the elder Fitch was surrounding by questions.

She opened her mouth and tried to explained how it was to meet Tony Stonem.

"I don't know how to say this, I mean, I understand now why Effy was so mysterious when we were younger and why everyone kept talking about the amazingness of Tony Stonem. It's like he is never surprised by anything and he saw the world in such a weird way, as if it's a game with rules only him knows about. Talking to him is... Disturbing, and with that, I'm far from the truth, believe me."

Emily impatiently asked "Katie, we knew Tony was somebody like this, but concretly, what has been decided? Are you going to testify for Effy?"

"Yeah, I have to relate how she was when we were young, you know, her … mental issues and what happened with Freddie." She paused, pronouncing the name wouls always be hard, then continued her story. "With that, I'm just telling the truth, and Tony thinks it could prove that Effy was somebody easily influenced and her boss took advantage of that."

"I don't like this Katie. You know Effy is not a fragile flower who is fooled by men. For fuck's sake, she is the one who make men fools!" Emily retorted.

"You're right, but my part is true. She had a rough past, like the rest of us, ans she had a mental breakdown."

Emily seemed to think about it a moment and finally said "Still, I don't like the way you will put that in a way to twist reality."

Katie sighed. "I know Em, and believe, I don't like it either, but Panda and JJ could not be at time for the trial, you don't want to do it, and that's ok, I understand why" she added quickly when she saw Emily look " and Naomi is obviously not going, so somebody had to do it."

"You're doing what's right, Katie, don't worry about that. It's not your fault if Tony is using the truth for the wrong reasons." Gina told wisely and the twins agreed with her by nodding silently.

"So this is going so far for your girl?" Katie asked, changing the subject for the one thing which was the real preocupation of her sister and Gina.

"We don't know exactly, Doctor Richardson told us she will talk to us as soon as it's over, so we have to wait for the moment. But Naomi was confident, it's good sign no?" Emily explained, smiling sweetly when she mentioned her girlfriend's name. God, even in an hospital, the two of them seemed to be illuminated by their love, thought Katie, wondering if she would find something like that one day. If somebody to the fourteen year old Katie, afraid to see her twin sister kissing another girl that they would be her first thought for a definition of true love, she would have never believed it, but now, it was the most obvious thing of her world.

"Yeah Em, it's a good sign." Katie said gently, putting a conforting hand on Emily's shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, then sat down. The waiting could begin.

After what seemed hours, the door opended and Doctor Richardson emerged, apparently exhausted. She looked at the three expectant figures in front of her and said:

"We have just finished. We have the results of Naomi."

* * *

**A/N: So... How is my Tony? It was really a nightmare to write this scene between Katie and Tony, balancing the two tempers of both of them, finding the good sentences... If you have a comment, don't hesitate to share your observations with me on that, by reviews or MP, it will be appreciated :) Same for the part of their past I add, it's my vision of how they had dealt with Freddie death.**

**And if you like this chapter and the story so far, leave a review, it's a big encouragement for the author :)**


End file.
